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Eric Olafson, Fleet Cadet 37
Chapter 37: Interlude: Bone Yard Swybar stood in the cargo bay of the Red Dragon and watched as a gang of S10 robots stowed away containers with real Loki torpedoes. His Kermac associate stood next to him with an almost feverish stare in his eyes. It would not take much and he would actually drool. The Agent of the worm was nowhere to be seen, but he expected him to be around. The Kermac pointed at a large cylindrical object that an Octobot had just lifted into the bay.” Is that really what I think it is?” “Yes this is a genuine Terran P Bomb. One such device is enough to ruin the day of any planetary based opponent.” “How does it work and why is it called a P Bomb?” “Officially it is designated a Ship to surface planetary incendiary device. It ignites a nuclear fire that consumes any matter. Once ignited on a planet the fire spreads and turns the entire surface of a planet into molten matter, there are no conventional means of stopping the fire as it consumes whatever you put on including water, depending on the elements present the process can turn violent and the planet turns into a temporary sun. It takes millennia to burn out and what’s left is a smooth ball of nuclear cinder, turning the world into a parking lot, hence we call it Paring Lot Bomb, or P Bomb.” “It amazes us how many nasty weapons the Union has and still claims to have the moral high ground.” “Using will benders and enslaving entire Civilization to do your dirty work isn’t exactly very moral either.” “It is the natural way of things, we Kermac are superior and it is only fair that we open the eyes of others to that fact.” Swybar was a ruthless man and his own morals had eroded long ago, but he did not become an Admiral of the Union fleet because he was stupid. He had been trained by the best and went through the most comprehensive training to become a Union Officer and he was trained to expect the unexpected and react to it. Something was wrong, at first he could not say what it was, but then he noticed that the Octobot had disappeared despite the fact that there was still a pile of supplies to be lifted into his ship. The Kermac did not notice anything and said. “There is a manual I added to your supply request, make sure I get it right away when it comes aboard.” “You added something to my request form?” Swybar asked carefully controlling his breath. “The secret to stay under the sensors is to play by the rules of the system. This fleet is not run by officers and Admirals but by bureaucrats and you must stick to the rules. There was no room for anything to add. What did you order?” The Kermac shrugged. “I am aware of your primitive bureaucracy and since I am unable to obtain a Transform Canon, I ordered a maintenance manual. It should give our engineering thralls enough clues to figure out how they work.” Swybar hit the Kermac so fast and so hard that he was thrown to the floor.” You idiot. You ruined everything. You could have had a ship load of secrets, more than every Kermac spy ever dreamed of taking home, but you were not satisfied. We are lucky to make it off this planet alive.” He turned and said. “Computronic, Emergency Procedure Theta Sigma. Emergency Lift off.” The Kermac touched his torn bio flex mask and the bloody lip below. The entire ship shook, hit by something powerful. As the bay doors closed he saw the shape of a Marine Troop carrier in the distance. Swybar touched a panel on his left glove. “Rama Command. Defend this ship and destroy all Intruders.” He knew, even the mighty Rama bots would not be enough to stop a drop ship load of Union Marines, but until they came up with the correct command codes it would buy him time enough to escape. He went as fast as he could to the ships bridge. Chances are the Marines did not come alone and there was a Union Battle ship or two in the system as well. Not even with the powerful weapons he had installed would he dare to go against a full armed Battle ship, but with the new Attikan Engines and the Saresii Camouflage he certainly could out run them before they decided to launch Wolfcrafts. It was worse than he thought; there were five Battle ships in Orbit, and a sixth one just dropping into Real space. He recognized the newcomer as the USS Shetland. It was the Union flagship, and he knew her commanding officer Captain McKenzie. She was as experienced as they came, but as bad as it looked he had a few aces up his sleeve. The Red Dragon was the last product of the Yakazuma Ship Development Corporation. It was not moth balled because it was obsolete, but because Yakazuma lost the corporate battle against almighty SII. The Red Dragon was to be the answer of Yakazuma to the Fast Raider design competition. A Competition he himself initiated. Yakazuma once had been SII’s number One competitor in the field of space ship design and they had gone all out on this last effort to secure a company saving fleet contract. SII won the battle as it usually did with a hostile take-over and with every dirty trick in the book, but not by coming up with a better design. The Red Dragon was fast and now with oversized Attikan Engines, almost as fast as a Wolfcraft. It was meant to operate deep behind enemy lines, to raid colonies, destroy space factories and interrupt supply lines. It was designed to carry and drop special forces commandos on enemy planets, unseen and for this the finest Saresii camouflage technology available was incorporated. He deployed all eight decoy drones. Little marvels of Terran Saresii technology, emitting the engine and mass signatures of battle ship sized enemies while his own engines emitted no more energy than a D 20 long range shuttle. While the Union Battle ships chased after eight blazing signals, he slipped away like a shadow. He cursed the captain of the Shetland; she had barley dropped out of Quasi and already deployed Wolfcraft and Augurs. The Augurs was an unarmed version of the Wolfcraft, stuffed to the brim with the finest scanning technology. They would soon determine the true nature of the Decoys. He had to reach the local sun fast. Both his companions came on the bridge, just as his ship was rocked by another explosion. Frantically he checked the ships sensors, but no Wolfcraft or anything else was in range. Of course if one of the Battle ships noticed his location it would be too late, one single shot of a long sniper TLC would end his plans and he would not even notice the explosion that ended his live. So what happened? The Red Dragon kept accelerating and with a brief sense of satisfaction he saw the Wolfcraft chase his Decoys and seconds later six bright suns stood in space behind him. Sniper rounds had ended the existence of his decoys. He wished for an experienced bridge crew, this ship was too big and too complicated to be flown into combat by him alone, but then he saw the reason. The damage board blinked red and indicated the complete loss of his most treasured secret. He howled as if in physical pain. His well-guarded secret, his own Translocator cannon had just exploded, but how? He had the engineers remove all safe guards or so he thought. It could not be helped, he still had plenty of fire power, and he had to escape. He had no illusions of escaping the hang man again if they ever caught him. There one of the Argurus turned. It had found him. No need to panic. He had three Silkworm Anti Fighter missiles. A shame to use them now, but it could not be helped. He fired all three, revealing his position for sure to the Argurus, but that Sensor ship was doomed, not even a Wolfcraft could evade three of them at once, it gave him the necessary time to slip into Quasi space. He immediately chanced course and followed exactly the particle trail of one of the incoming Battle ships. He was certain it would take them days to figure out which trail he used to mask his escape, but even an hour delay meant he made his escape. He had done it. He had outsmarted and out maneuvered the first Battle group, not bad for an old logistics Admiral. The Kermac held a Line blaster leveled at him. “Chance of plans, Human, we will not go to Koken; we will now take direct course to Kermac Prime to analyze what we got. Then I will teach you the consequences for hitting a Kermac Wizard.” “If it wasn’t for your stupidity we would have everything including a Translocator canon. I had enough of you.” The Agent of the worm stepped aside. “We must go to Koken that is the purpose of our agreement. If that is no longer possible then my association to this endeavor has ended.” The Kermac waved his gun. “This is but a symbol of my power. You have a Kermac device in your cranium, human. Do as I say and change course. Have a taste of pain.” With a mental command the Kermac agent activated the device and nothing happened. Swybar grinned at him. “This ship is equipped with a state of the art Auto Doc Sick bay; the first thing I did was a detailed med scan. Your device is long gone, Kermac. You are nothing but predictable and I expected such a device ever since I woke in the Coffin.” The Agent of the Worm suddenly emitted two bright beams from his eyes and the Kermac Wizard collapsed, much of his head burned to ashes. “The Equation has changed and so has the parameters of my assignment. I hope we can come to an agreement.” “I see you have hidden talents and it might be good to have an agent of the Worm along, now that we are freelancers.” “What are your plans now? Are you still planning your revenge on McElligott?” “Yes, but I am not in a hurry. He is well protected and need a lot of planning. I also have not forgotten that snot nosed cadet. He might not be big in the scheme of things, but he is the reason I ended up on the gallows and want him dead.” “This Cadet is of interest to my employer as well.” “Why is that so? What could a Cadet have that is important for the worm?” “To show you some good will and my willingness to cooperate with you, I tell you. This Cadet Olafson has somehow managed to rise to importance with the Narth. My employers would like to know details.” Swybar leaned back in his command seat.” I can see where increased Narth activity within the Union could spell problems for the Worm, indeed.” “For now that is a good reason as any. I do have a contact that could help us there, someone who knows more about this Cadet than anyone.” “One of his friends at the academy?” “Much better than that, his wife. There is a certain girl named Sif. She is on the run from the law after dealing with Califerm. My contacts signaled that if we provide her with transport of Pluribus and with a new identity she would be willing to tell us everything she knows about Eric Olafson. Even give us bait to a trap he will take for sure.” “Then let us go to Pluribus, no better place to hide then right before their noses anyway.” --””-- FREYA We did not land on the Planet. Gwen simply took me by the hand and we stepped through a suddenly appearing field of a white glowing energy cloud. For the briefest moment did I see images of fire and glowing rivers, but before I could really focus or think we stood on the surface of a small cobblestone plaza, a big gnarly looking tree in the center surrounded by a few dozen one story houses, not too different from the dwellings Low men and not clan associated freemen used to live on the outskirts of Freikstat. One of the houses was bigger and clearly some sort of official building. I was reminded of Uncle Hogun’s inn as I noticed a sign hanging from chains just above the door, made out of a plank of wood there was the cut-out of a cooking kettle or cauldron. Gwen said. “It is a bit rustic and perhaps too much cliché, but most of us came to this Universe when much of Earths Europe looked this way and it is sort of homage to the roots of our human hosts. We have ceased to be really different entities, but you know how it is with old traditions. They die hard especially if there is no apparent need to change things.” I sighed at the mention of traditions and nodded.” Indeed I do. When I grew up I cursed them and wanted to change them. I have somewhat changed my mind, some tradition is good and chance is not always a good thing.” She raised one of her shapely eyebrows as the wind tugged at her hair.” You do have wisdom that seems beyond your age.” “I don’t think common sense comes from age alone but also from exposure and by having my eyes opened by older and wiser mentors and teachers.” “Well there is no sense of standing here outside and discuss those things, when the others already await you. But there is one more thing I would like you to ask, before I introduce you to the Circle.” “I came this far and as it looks like I have strict orders to treat this like a First Contact mission. So what is it I have to do?” “Let your female side come to the surface and join us in your female form. Males are not really welcome here.” “I have brought nothing along, and whatever I had left was blown up with the Sturgeon. My body has changed and it is much more difficult to pass. I don’t like to appear like a Norse in drag, which is worse.” “You talk to someone who knows the secret of shape shifting. We can do that to others too.” Again she took me by the hand and dragged me with a soft but persistence to one of the one story buildings. Inside it had only one room and a flight of stairs leading upward. There was a fire place that came to live with a crackling fire as we entered and the light came from warm yellowish glowing lanterns. She smiled apologetic.” I know it is too much of the rustic décor, but I haven’t been here in over two hundred years and frankly I don’t think I will be back much. I much more prefer my apartment on Lorman’s Starbase which I consider my real home.” She pointed at a full length mirror mounted inside a wooden frame, I was not certain if it was there before and she said. It’s our version of an auto dresser and it does work just like that as well. The reflection you see is how you would look like and the mirror does the rest.” “Is it magic?” She sighed. “I think I wasted a lot of explanation. No it is not magic, there is no such thing as magic. Like the super exotic particle I told you about we exist on both sides simultaneous and with our side that rests in the nether world we are able to do some things that others cannot. Did you ever question the things your Friend Narth did? Believe me compared to the Narth we are childlike and impotent, with all our knowledge we don’t understand what Narth really is. When we came to this Universe the Narth did not like us being here, and considered us nothing more than perhaps annoying gnats, not that we believe we would still be here if we really annoyed them. A few millennia ago a Narth explained to our mother what we had to do to find peace and a place in the Universe, through their council and perhaps help we were able to form these bonds to human hosts that allows us to mirror is an advanced Saresii Auto Dresser. We do not oppose technology and it only looks that way to match the rest of the interior. Saresii Auto Dressers are just like magic to us as they manipulate matter, even skin and tissue on a molecular level.” I had held my breath I think the entire time while she spoke and now took a deep breath. “I never liked Psionics, but since everyone knows about them and we get tested in school for the HPI I never really questioned them. In Science class they even explained to us how they work and all that.” “If things go as I hope then perhaps pupils get tested for their Channel ability in a few decades from now.” The mirror image of me began to change and first I saw Freya as she looked, as I looked when going out with the other girls at the Space port mall. Then there was Elena and an Image of my mother and they somehow swirled and melted together to a new image of a complete stranger, a woman I had never seen before and yet I knew exactly who she was. This was me. This was me how I might have looked like if I was born female from the start. She had my eyes and that is where I recognized her. The truly golden shimmering hair of my mother, somehow looking shinier and softer than the hair I was used to. My arms did not appear as thick or pronounced but rounder and smooth. In this reflection I wore the old maroon dress, the one with the golden seams. Without thinking my hands touched my chin and then slid down to the plunging neckline of the dress. This cleavage was not something artificial, it felt warm and I could feel my own touch. The reflection the image in the mirror had become me. I turned to Gwen. She had changed the drab boiler suit for a soft looking white blouse and a black skirt.” Sul be damned, you are stunningly beautiful and what a choice of dress.” “It is your magic mirror that did all this. It’s not real.” I said trying to convince myself, in a losing argument. I felt elated and free and deep down wished that this was the end of my confusion and this was the way I was meant to be. “There is no force we know of, this side or nether side that could read your mind if you don’t want to. What I see before me is what you want us to see. This, is you, Freya or should I call you Erica?” --””-- I could not help it but feel beautiful. It was and I clearly recognized a distinct female emotion. Something that resonate in a completely different way with the very core of my being. There was a validation in this as well, it somehow did not feel wrong or perverted but perfect and just as nature intended. I had followed Gwen outside, and paid a little more attention to the details of this world, at least this region of it. The sky was heavily clouded and if I would had to guess, I was certain it would rain very shortly. Due to heavy and dark cloud cover, a misty twilight was cast over the cobblestone streets and the one story stone buildings. I did not see anyone else. The place had an eerie almost dead character. There were no advertisements, nothing really colorful. She walked next to me and seemed to guess what I was thinking. There are not all that many of us, Erica. We are all many thousand years old.” She sighed.”I guess we are older in soul and spirit than we realize. I too find all rather depressing to be honest.” While I did pay attention to the surroundings, and listened to her words. I also was fascinated by my new body. I could not put in words, but it almost felt as if I had moved from a lowman’s shack into the luxury chambers of a Clan lady of the highest standing. “I don’t really understand it, to be honest. I mean what you really are. This place seems abandoned, more like some sort of museum or exhibit instead of the main town of a society.” I gestured towards the fields beyond the buildings.”I am no expert on agriculture by any means, as we do not have much in terms of fields or such on Nilfeheim, but even the fields seem dead ans abandoned.” “Maybe we should pay more attention to the now. I think I told you, I feel much more at home right at Lorman’s Star base. I have friends and colleagues there. As much as Lorman’s is a dusty and dry world it is much more vibrant and alive.” “And we are going where?” She pointed out a larger building we were approaching. “we are going to the Circle and meet the others.” We entered the building she had pointed out a few moments later and just ahead of the starting down pour. The door was just like the door of her cottage, made of heavy wood and iron bands, except this one was much bigger and had two wings. The room beyond was lit by candles and lanterns. It all reminded me of the Thingstead house, because here too, a bunch of individuals had gathered in an almost complete circle. All of them were females. Dressed in varieties of outfits. Dresses, skirts, blouses. Old and young faces, beauty and women that could only be described as old and ugly. They all stared at me and there was a great silence. Some of the faces clearly showed disapproval of my presence. Others apparently approved and even smiled. Right across the entrance and from the direction we had entered stood a tall woman She had a very feminine voluptuous body, with ample breasts. Her skin had the shade of dark gray slate and her hair was long and of an ashen color. Her face was quite beautiful, but her eyes glowed in a subdued red. She wore skin tight leather pants, an ornate bikini top that matched her belt. Her outfit also included wispy white veils attached to her bra and the ornate metal belt. “I am Luci, the oldest. Welcome to the Circle of the Coven, you are the first outsider ever we welcome here in this very nucleus of our society.” I was quite unsure as to what was expected from me, so I said.”Thank you for this invitation. I must confess I have no idea what I am supposed to do or why it was me that has been picked for this task.” I curtsied and said.”I am Cadet Olafson and I am representing the United Stars of the Galaxies. From what I understood of my orders this is not a first contact situation but an evaluation for potential Union membership.” The tall, white haired woman across me nodded her head in an elegant fashion.”Indeed Erica, this is part of the reasons you are here indeed.” The woman next to her, appeared to be a Saresii beauty, also with white hair and I was almost certain I had seen her before. A woman to my right suddenly changed her appearance and was no longer a human female but appeared to be a gnarled, muscle bulging demon, drooling fire armed with a glowing chain. As if by signal dozens of them transformed and became truly frightening entities. Gnarling and growling at me. One of them, I think it was the first who transformed growled. “You are a little human, shaking and trembling with fear. We do not need to become members of that pathetic Union of yours. I think I will devour you now. It is quite a while since I ripped a little human to pieces.” I did not move and said.”I did not come here prepared, my understanding why I am here is a mystery to me to be frank. But one thing I can tell you, we do not offer Union membership. It has to be applied for and if the Assembly deems you worthy enough, it might allow you to begin the process of becoming a Union society. I am not afraid of you or any of the others. So if you want to kill me go right ahead. I can’t fight that many and I am unarmed, but by Odin I will not run.” The gray skinned half naked woman that introduced herself as Luci snarled.”Return to your human form, all of you. Erica is our honored guest not an enemy.” The one that looked like a Saresii smiled proudly.”Those of you who share their existence with a human of Terra, know how stubborn, how violent and how curious they can be. None of you could impress the Eternal Warrior, and it becomes apparent you can’t do so with her.” To me this was more than just bizarre and none of my previous experiences gave me any guidance or reference what I was supposed to do here. The strange women demons however reverted to their human forms. The Saresii said.”Erica, we have met before in the office of Admiral Webb. I am Alycia Lichfangh.” I blurted out. “Commander Hollow, is a JAG officer and now I find PSI Corps command here. Yet you are not Union members. Is this some sort of conspiracy?” I wished I had a weapon and needed to contact Admiral McElligott. Alycia spread her arms. “No, Cadet Olafson. Those of us that serve the Union are indeed citizen. You won’t find a more dedicated and loyal fleet officer than my young sister, Gwen. The man known as the Eternal Warrior has been encountered by me over 1500 of your years. I fell in love with him and became a Union Citizen. I too serve our community ton the best of my abilities. However our society, the Coven has not joined the Union and many were opposed and wanted to remain hidden and dissociated.” The gray skinned, uncanny looking woman named Luci continued. “This has changed, we are discussing and pondering Union membership ever since Richard Stahl had gallantly fought for one of us, ignoring her true form and risking his life to save hers. Gwen followed her older sister and she too became a citizen and advocated membership. We asked her to bring you here, so we may get to know you and make the decision to join, after this meeting.” “I should feel honored and humbled to be the one you invited to this, but ever since Gwen revealed her motives to me, I can’t help but wonder why you picked me.” If you are indeed General Lichfangh and you know Admiral Stahl, would he not be infinity more qualified for this? Or perhaps yourself?” Luci answered.”Neither Gwen, Alycia nor the eighteen other sisters that are already Union citizens are unbiased. They are biased advocates to say it mildly. Now look at you. You stand before us in female form. The mirror revealed your inner self and expressed it as we see you. This is one reason why it is you that stands before us. No man, not even honorable Stahl can join us here within the circle.” She stared at me with her glowing eyes. It is indeed not a disguise, you are female and yet you are also male. The duality expressed in one person.” Gwen standing next to me made an amused face.”You see, there is more to you as well.” Luci stepped down and came closer.”Welcome indeed Erica. You fought gallantly for Gwen and I think your female side has suffered a lot, let her be and relax for a little time. Take a vacation not only from your ordeals but also from Eric. This world is yours to explore while you perhaps explore what it means to be Erica.” I blinked.”That is it? I was sort of expecting some ordeal or test and perhaps more explanations as what you all really are.” “You are welcome here and all of us will try to make you understand what we are. Perhaps it is easier to understand by osmosis instead of trying to understand raw words that mean little, especially with a subject like this.” The PSI Corps general also came closer. “You promised Obrock to take it easy and stay out of uniform and away from fleet business. This is a pleasant world and there are vast oceans. Swimming is a favorite past time of yours is it not?” “Yes I do love swimming for sure.” That big meeting was anti climactic for sure. I could not tell if I failed a test or if there was something like that in the first place. Luci made an inviting gesture.”Why don’t we give you a little tour of the place, while the feast is prepared.” Gwen answered my unasked question.”There is always a feast when the sisters of the coven meet. It is all traditionally prepared and some of it is very good, I promise.” “Spider legs and toat skin?” Both of them laughed and Luci said.”No Erica, roast beef, dumplings, chicken and fish. Lots of vegetables. Many dishes are prepared after century old pre-astro recipes. No witches potions, honesty.” They took me to a vaulted chamber, I suspected was more or less right underneath the big meeting room. It appeared to be some sort of treasure or trophy chamber. With items and artifacts displayed on little stone stands and in alcoves. There were crowns, swords, helmets, shields, pieces of jewelry and ornate decorative items. In the center of the room, an open display stand with a single silver colored ring of sorts. The ring was not ornate, or female in design. It did not seem to fit with the rest of the collection. Still I was suddenly and strongly drawn to that ring.”What kind of ring is that?” I asked. Luci said.”It is an old, a very old token. It is waiting for its right owner since this Universe came to be. Like us, it is not of this plane. Go ahead touch if you like maybe you can. No one was ever able to.” That made little sense to me. “Is it electrified or under some sort of force field?” I didn’t really wait for an answer. I was mesmerized by that simple piece of jewelry. Now I could see its face was decorated with the same strange fanged skull symbol, the man in the black robe wore on his chest. The one claiming to belong to the Church of Darkness; the one we met at the shore walk on Perryton. I reached out for the ring and at first it appeased it was always just a few inches out of reach just beyond my finger tips. No matter how much I tried to reach it. At the same moment something cold, utterly cold was rising from deep within me. It was not painful or unpleasant at all. On the contrary, it was a welcome oddly satisfying sensation. I could hear my own voice yet I could not really tell where it came from.”Nothing can prevent me from taking what is mine.” I took it and put it on the ring finger of my right hand. For a split second that may have lasted an eternity, I felt unimaginable power. I was certain I could see the entire galaxy, the very universe and the desire to punish and destroy it all. A supernatural voice, so tremendous it could not originate from a living being spoke. “Hail thee, darkness incarnate. The age of your resurrection has begun. Once you reunited all that is yours, the decision must be made.” Whatever just occurred started to fade. Numb and in a strange confused state I found myself standing by that display stand. The ring was no longer there. It was on my hand. “Sorry, I seem to have slipped on your ring.” Luci whispered in an almost breathless way.”It is your ring, Erica. Yours alone!” While I marveled at a diamond and jewel encrusted dagger, I tried to remember what just happened. Something profound, something very important I was certain of it, yet I could not remember. “That dagger seems particular impractical.” Luci said.”Yes it appear that way, but in the hand of the queen it was a deadly instrument and sharp enough to pierce the kings heart.” “I assume you of the coven did more than just dance around cauldrons and chant dark magic spells.” Gwen nodded. “Indeed, Erica. There is no such thing as magic. It is just science and the utilization of conditions that are not known to man.” The gray skinned woman touched her chest.”And sometimes, female magic yields as much results as swords and brute strength.” “I wish my mother had some of that magic.” I sighted. “And I think we sulked and reminiscent-ed enough for one day. I am hungry and I bet Erica is too.” Alycia said. --””-- I had spend three days on Coven, planet indulging myself swimming to my hearts content in the cold deep oceans. The water was fresh and good, but just like the planet the waters weren’t like the oceans of other worlds. I did not see much in terms of fish. Nothing big or aggressive. The entire world had a sleepy somewhat old and tired character. I was also still contemplating what the real reason was for me to come here. That short somewhat strange meeting with the other members of this weird society could not have been all there was to it. But the ones I spoke to were friendly and everyone tried to explain to me what the Coven really were. While it smacked of things and supernatural conditions I had hard time accepting, it wasn’t like things Narth tried to explain to me. From what I understood, the Coven were a group of beings that existed in a previous, different universe. That there were more than one spatial conditions was not new. Quasi space, GalNet and Space-trains all this technology utilized different planes of of existence and space to circumvent the limitations of this Universe. I knew of Anti matter of course, and the idea of Anti energy and an entire anti universe was not so far fetched. If I understood them correctly, they were survivors of a different universe and escaped its destruction by entering that anti universe they called the Nether-verse. And in order to exist in this universe they had to share bodies with beings from this reality. While it all sort of made sense and it wasn’t so hard to understand, as long as you didn’t try to understand the details. I still didn’t like the idea of yet another unseen power able to influence and manipulate beings and conditions. I didn’t like or really understand psionics and now there was another power like that. I was lounging in a comfortable chair right by the shore and while I contemplated these heavy and hard to realize concepts, I could not help but marvel at the long lissome legs of mine. My body was really all female, it wasn’t a disguise or a costume. Yet while I felt utterly content, there was deep feeling inside, a feeling of certainty that this was not the end of my transformation and that I was indeed developing into something else. Alycia Lichfangh walked into my field of view. She wore a one piece bathing suit with a wispy beach skirt tied around her hips. “You making the same face as my beloved when he contemplates the fate of the Universe.” She said coming closer. From where the second chair came that was now right next to mine, I could not say. With the elegance and grace only a woman could, she flowed into the other suddenly present beach chair. I sighed. “I am thinking about all this, this strange planet. You and Gwen and what you guys really seem to be. About myself and what it all means.” “And to what conclusion did you come?” “I am just a simple Neo viking and all this PSI and Nether stuff is just beyond me. What good are space ships and blaster weapons if there are beings that can travel in deep space, able to tear apart pirate ships and make things happening with their minds?” “You sound just like Richard. He too claims to be a simple marine. Yet neither you nor him are anything but simple anymore. You are not that frightened Neo viking boy, threatening the sound of your fathers heavy feet coming to give you another lashing. You have grown and developed and you are still growing and developing. So is humanity and the Union. Compared to just about any star spanning society, the Union is very young. Three thousand years is not much in terms of cosmic time spans. Yet I believe the Union has come further than any such society we remember. At the beginning, Terran Humans were defenseless against Psionics. Today there is technology that protects, prevents and shields. I have no doubt, Union technology will come up with ways to protect or perhaps even utilize nether space and nether energy.” I had to admit what she said made lots of sense.”Looking at it that way makes it less spooky and uncanny.” She gave me a warm smile.”The Coven has decided, we will join the Union and with our membership we open our archives and provide access to all we know. I have no doubt Terrans will come up with some sort of weapon first that will scare even the dwellers of the deepest pits.” “I would have never thought hell actually exists.” The dark skinned woman with the long white hair joined us just then and she said. “True hell is created by man and on this side of the Universe. I am wandering these parts for millennia and I have seen true evil and the manifestation of hell on battle fields and behind closed doors of human dwellings. In slave cages and torture chambers.” She sighed. “The Nether-worlds are not a good place, but no one of this plane is sent there for punishment. No one that dies here ends up there, at least as far as I know and I should know as I am the daughter of a very powerful entity. I am technically not a Coven, I was not born in a doomed universe and sought refuge in the Nether realms, so if there is a real hell as some believe there is for the souls of the evil doers, it is not where I come from.” I listened to all they had to say and could not help myself thinking that this was all knowledge and information they wanted me to have, for some greater purpose. It was too much meta-physic mambo jumbo for my taste and while I was glad for the few days of peaceful vacation. I was more than ready to leave this uncanny place and return to Arsenal to begin my second year. Here ends Volume III of the Eric Olafson Saga. If you liked it please join me in Book IV: Eric Olafson, Midshipman Here ends Volume III. If you liked the story and would like what life has in store for Eric. Join me in ; “Eric OChapter 29: Coven, planet The End = "Eric Olafson, Fleet Cadet" Category:Stories